Process for making alloys of phosphorus.



L. A. JEFFS. PROCESS FOR MAKING ALLOY S OF PHOSPHORUS.

APPLICATION F |LED NOV. I3. i911.

Patented June' 11, 1918. i

'SIM/1mm L.. JS, @y

LEWIS A. JEFES, OF-SALT CITY, UTAH.

PROCESS FOB H 1 for G ALLUYS OF PHOSPHOEUS.

Specification o! Letters Patent.

Patented J une t1, tgl.

` Application led November 13, 1917. Serial No. 201,780.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Lewis A. J Erre, a citi-` zen of the United States, residin at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt alie and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Alloys of Phosphorus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a f ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a process. of producing alloys of phosphorus, especlally of copper and phosphorus, or cupro-phos, and has for its object to provide a method which will be more expeditious and less expensive than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel vsteps and combinations of steps constituting the process, all as will be more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specilication, 1n which the figure 1s a diagrammatic sectional view of a type of furnace especially adapted for practising the invention, 1 indicates any suitable hearth, 2 an exit for the alloy of metal and phosphorus, 3 a moltenv pool of said alloy, Il a slag exit, 5 any suitable lining for the walls 6 ofthe furnace, 7 any suitable form of electrodes provided with the connections 8, 9 an exit or downcomer for the evolved gases, 10 the usual bell for closing the top 11 of the furnace, and 12 the charge made up of phosphate rock, the metal, or material carrying the metal, it is desired to alloy with the phosphorus, and carbon in suitable proportions.

It is well known that phosphate rock will give up 'its phosphorus either in the form of oxids, or as elemental phosphorus, according to the temperature to which it may be sub jected, and also according to the amount of carbon and oxygen present in the fusion zone. It is further well known that if one employs a blast furnace, maintains a localized fusion zone at a very high temperature' using preheated air, and also maintains an excess of carbon in the fusion zone, the alloying of phosphorus with any molten iron present in the lcharge to form ferrophos, will be facilitated. In such a process it is found that the preheating of the downcoming charge `owing to the upward passage of the evolved gases therethrough greatly promotesihe liberation of the phosphorus and itsent U into the iron.

In other words, 1t is well known that a blast type of furnace lends itself to both eiiciency and economy in the making of ferro-phos of a high content of phosphorus, and in this inventlon, I closely follow in the .furnace illustratedy in the drawings, the

shape of the ordinary blast furnace, except the stack is much shorter, and no twyers are provided.

If cupro-phos is to be produced, I make up a suitable balance charge 12 of afiuxing material, phosphate rock, metallic copper, copper matte, or anoxidized copper ore, and carbon. A sulfd copper ore would not be suitable, although the sulfur content of the matte is not seriously detrimental. The carbon in the charge should be in such excess of'that required by theory as to always insure an excess of incandescent carbon in the fusion zone, or space 14 between and around the electrodes.

The reason for this said excess of incandescent carbon resides in the fact that, unless the temperature of the fusion zone is very high indeed, the phosphorus will be liberated in the form of oxids, a form in which it will not enter the metal; and therefore, unless an ample supply of incandescent carbon is present at the oint of liberation to reduce these said oxi s to elemental phosphorus, they will escape with the exit gases. To insure that substantially all of the liberated combined phophorus is reduced to the elemental condition, I sometimes provide the carbon in such quantities that it is 40% in excess of theoretical requirements.

The copper being melted and reduced if ,in a combined state at relatively low temperatures, the elemental phosphorus will enter it at points in the charge much higher vsible withy a hot blast.

than those at which the phosphorus oxids are liberated, and therefore, said oxlds vvill naturally rise up through the excess of 1ncandescent carbon in the fusion zone and be reduced, before reaching the molten copper in the upper regions of said zone. As the phosphorus alloys with the cop er in the manner just disclosedthe cupro-p os thus formed Will trickle down through the charge, meeting ascending phosphorus on its Way, and finally collect in the pool 3.

rllhe incandescent exit gases containing more or less P205 and elemental phosphorus will pass up through the interstices of the charge, preheating the latter as it descends, and will be collected in the downcomer 9, whence they will be subjected to a scrubbing actionn for the recovery of their values, or otherwise treated as desired.

The slag floats on the pool 3, and 1s tapped off from time to time through the exit 4c, and the cupro-phos at the exit 2.

The maintenance of an excess of incandescent carbon in the yfusion zone by the aid. of an electric current instead of by a hot blast of air enables me to regulate the temlperature of said zone over wide ranges and to maintain it substantially constant, and

therefore, to produce greater quantities of elemental phosphorus for the impregnation of the copper and a more uniform content of phosphorus in the alloy than would be pos- It results from thisl that I am enabled to produce directly from the rock much higher contents of phosphorus in alloys of copper, iron, etc., than would be possible in a blast furnace, and further, b properly proportioning the metal to t e phosphorus and carbon in the charge, I am enabled to produce any desired richness of oxids of phosphorus and of elemental phosphorus in the exit gases. i F

In fact, by employing a' relatively small quantity of copper or iron, and a eat excess of phosphate rock'and carbon, am enabled to make the exit gases so yrich in phosphorus as to Warrant its recovery as the princi al product of the process. Of course, if I2 .5 is desired, the exit gases can be readily burned and this product recovered.

It will thus be seen that b substituting Aan electric current for a hot b ast in a blast i Atype of furnace, I am enabled to use a minimum of carbon, for although the latter is greatly in excess of that theoretically required, yet, no free oxygen is admitted to consume the same, and therefore, onlyV a` quantity in excess of that necessary to reduce the phosphorus and other oxids present is required. In fact, this said carbon accumulates above the slag, in the fusion zone, and after the furnace isrunning its proportion in the chargecan be reduced. It .will be further observedv that by employing incase@ a furnace having the shape shovvn,the charge descends gradually and evenly with litt e tendency to Stick, and by employing electric heat instead of a hot blast combustion, the reaction zone is more localized; no molten pool is required to keep the furnace from running cold; a reacting concentrated gas phase is produced undiluted with nitrogen, and therefore, the metal is more readily impregnated; and the incandescent carbon instead of carbon `monoxid may be relied upon to reduce the oxidized ore as Well as the oxid of phosphorus, thus reducing the CO and CO2 gases leaving the stack, t0 a minimum.

'Ihe amperage, voltage, proportions of rock to carbon, proportions and lkind of metal in the charge, etc., of course, will vary according to the materials at hand and the purpose of the operator, but these data will man.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the process Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore, I do not Wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

- 1. The process` of making an alloy of a metal and phosphorus in an electric furnace which consists rin providing a charge containin phosphate rock and carbon; adding to sai charge a material adapted to supply said metal; passing a current of electricity through a portion of said charge to produce said metal in a fused condition and sufficientto evolve oxidsof phos horus in a aseous condition while provi ing a local ed fusion zone; and maintaining an excess of incandescent carbon in said zone, substantially as described.

2. The process of making an allo of a,

excess; adding to said charge a material capable of supplying said metal in a fused state above the fusion zone when said rock is being decomposed; passing a current of electricity through a portion of said charge to provi a localizedJ fusion zone and of a suiiicient strength to cause oxids of vphosphorus to be evolved from said rock; and maintaining in said charge an excess of free incandescent carbon to reduce said oxids of phosphorus, substantially as described.

3. The process ofmaking an alloy of phosphorus and copper in an electric furnace which consists in providing a charge ofphosphate'rock and carbon; adding to said charge a material capable of supplying metallic copper in a fused state above the fusion zone while said rock is being deco posed; passing a current through a portion of said charge to provide a, localized fusion In testimony whereof I aix my signature, zone and of a suicient strength to produce 4in presence of two witnesses. oxids of phosphorus from said rock; and

maintaining an excess of free incandescent LEWIS A JEFFS y5 carbon in said zone to reduce said oxids as Witnesses:

fast as they are formed, substantially as E. J. HAWKE,

described. f ROBERT E. MARK. 

